Star Wars: Birth of the Hidden Empire
by dankind33
Summary: A wanted man risks death by returning to the Empire, with a powerful weapon for Darth Vader


Birth of the Hidden Empire:  
  
Notes: All Star Wars characters used herein are the property of George Lucas and are used without permission and without the intent of profit.  
  
Timeline: this takes place between Episode IV a New Hope, and Episode V the Empire strikes back, specifically it takes place prior to the events of the video game 'Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire.'  
  
+++ Lorik Greelar shifted in his seat. He'd taken a mighty big gamble coming back into Imperial space. Oh he had his guarantees - Admiral Yeshow was bought and paid for, but he was still a wanted man by the rest of the Empire. He got up and began to pace. Yeshow, sat in one of the chairs opposite glared at him.  
  
"Why are you pacing like this?" The Admiral asked  
  
"I'm on an Imperial cruiser, filled with people who want my head. Do you expect me to be cool and collected."  
  
The Admiral frowned. "You wanted this deal. You have put my career in jeopardy for your financial gain, now is not the time to start worrying. Relax, Lord Vader will be here soon. when you show me what he has shown you, he will give you anything you want."  
  
Greelar took a little comfort from that fact. Vader was a tyrant. When he saw what Greelar was going to offer, he'd make him a very rich man indeed. He wouldn't get an opportunity like this anywhere else. The Rebels would pay handsomely, but after he betrayed them, he doubted they would deal with him, besides they still only controlled a handful of systems. On the other hand, ever since Vader's defeat at Yavin, his obsession with finding the Rebels was legendary. Vader would pay top credit for his little toy.  
  
Greelar's train of thought was interrupted when Vader arrived in the room. He heard rumours of him, but never believed they were true. Some people said he was a droid, an empty shell powered by the Emperor's hatred. Right there and then, Greelar wouldn't argue. The only colours besides black on his body were those that were reflected from around the ship. No humanity at all was evident. Greelar smirked as he watched Yeshow stand to attention like a raw cadet. For all he knew the alcoholic gambler was paying homage to a heartless machine.  
  
Yeshow made eye contact with a captain, a few feet behind Vader. When the Captain stood his ground Vader interjected.  
  
"Captain Sarn will remain with us for these negotiations. Am I Clear?" As Vader spoke Greelar noted that Vader wasn't a droid - no machine could be capable of that level of malevolence.  
  
"Yes Lord Vader." Yeshow mumbled.  
  
"Now tell me." Vader began "Why am I taken from the Emperor's work to this ship."  
  
"Lord Vader, this individual has the ultimate weapon. Once we incorporate its design into our own ships, the Rebellion will be on its knees in weeks."  
  
"An intriguing concept. but why are your consorting with a known Rebellion accomplice." Vader said as he moved towards Yeshow who began to flinch. Greelar realised his profit was at risk - it was time to act. He got up between them, and bowed gracefully.  
  
"Lord Vader? Captain Lorik Greelar, I'm delighted to meet you. I am on your wanted lists that is correct." he suddenly felt his throat begin to tighten, as he felt Vader's gaze burn into him from behind his helmet.  
  
"Then I shall handle your execution personally." Vader finished.  
  
Greelar had only one recourse left. He hit the control on his wrist unit as the life began to drain out of him.  
  
"V-v-view port!" Greelar pleaded.  
  
"My Lord. look!" Captain Sarn shouted. Vader released his grip and joined Sarn, looking at his ship that had just appeared out of thin air. She was purple, and consisted of a series of interconnected spheres. The ship was about half the size of the Imperial destroyer they were aboard.  
  
Sarn looked on, a mixture of fear and excitement in his face. "How did you. I mean, a ship that small couldn't generate a cloaking field . and even if she could, we would have been able to detect it at this close range."  
  
Greelar, still rubbing his throat stood up. "I found her near the Valora nebula. The crew were all dead, well there was only one. and he was badly wounded, so I gave him a helping hand."  
  
"A place where even the force is turbulent." Said Vader, half to himself more than anyone. "What were you doing there?"  
  
Greelar raised his hands. "I can see you're not a man to be trifled with. I like that. Time to tell the truth. I did steal an Imperial weapons shipment. I sold - yes sold - the weapons to the Rebels. I laid low for a while. then I heard that Jabba the Hutt was after Han Solo, so I tried to catch him. make a little more money. Sadly I was stopped before I could capture Solo. I was now wanted by both Imperial and Rebel Forces, never one to outstay my welcome, I fled to the outer territories, that's where I found this little baby. I knew you would be interested, so I tried to arrange a contact who could guarantee I would get a fair hearing. I found this fellow passed out in Jabba's casino on Tattooine 45 thousand credits in debt, credits that he stole from the Empire I might add. "  
  
Vader again stared at Yeshow. "Its. it's a lie Lord Vader. I knew nothing, I swear. he said he was a legitimate weapons seller. he shall be executed immediate."  
  
Vader reached out and snapped Yeshow's neck. No doubt he would have slowly choked him under normal circumstances, but Vader was more interested in getting his hands on the cloaking technology.  
  
"Continue." Vader said coldly  
  
"Well. after his drunken confession, I told him that he would have to arrange this meeting, or else I would let the nearest Imperial Garrison know about his habit."  
  
Vader focused upon Greelar for what seemed to be a lifetime, but only a few seconds. The rhythmic hiss of his breathing attire set his teeth on edge. Finally the dark lord said:  
  
"Can this technology be adapted for other ships?"  
  
"Yes Lord Vader.here are the schematics of the device."  
  
He held a Holo Crystal in the air.  
  
"What price comes with them?" asked Vader.  
  
Now its shill time thought Greelar. In a gesture to show that he would not be a push over, he held the crystal tightly in his hand.  
  
"45 million credits. A full pardon. And the Torlortha Moon - a profitable mining operation if ever I saw one. It's a small price to pay. for around half the price of a Imperial Destroyer, and a back water planet that no one cares about, you can put an end to the rebellion that has cost the Emperor himself something in the region of Billions."  
  
Vader stared at him again. Now he would either be toast, or a very, very rich man.  
  
"What is to stop me from taking the information by force?" asked Vader  
  
It was time for the biggest bluff of Greelar's life "My ship has a nuclear detonator aboard. If I don't report in, it will automatically explode. Now your ship will survive, but the data that this crystal links to, and the ship itself will be obliterated.  
  
"Very well. Captain, have guest quarters prepared for Mr. Greelar, renew his citizenship, and prepare a comlink to the Imperial Bank, and the Torlortha system." Sarn bowed and left the room.  
  
Greelar reached onto his belt and activated his Comm unit  
  
"Exate, disengage detonator. and unlock the files pertaining to our cloak."  
  
A metallic "Very good sir" was heard over the signal.  
  
"Tell me." Vader asked "are there any crew members besides your X-8 unit? Any organic ones?"  
  
"No Lord Vader just me I." Greelar grabbed his throat and fell to his knees, as the life began to drain out of him again.  
  
"You have made a fool out of yourself, Mr Greelar. the first rule of negotiation, don't show weakness. even after the deal is done."  
  
Those were the last words that Lorik Greelar ever heard as his larynx finally shattered.  
  
+++  
  
Vader looked down at the pathetic specimen of humanity at his feet. It had been an interesting day. He went over to the intercom and tapped a button.  
  
"Captain Sarn, report to the meeting hall immediately"  
  
Sarn was bearly half way down the corridor, when he was summoned. He stood at attention as if it had been weeks since he had last seen Vader. He only shot a slightly shocked look in the direction of Greelar's corpse.  
  
"You are to be the new head of Weapons research for the Empire."  
  
Sarn was more frightened at the promotion than excited - that pleased Vader immensely.  
  
"Thank you Lord Vader." He stammered.  
  
"Your first priority is to use the invisibility technology on a new attack fleet. Make no mention of this, only to those who you have selected for the project. This is of absolute secrecy. I do not want any schematics to be broadcast, or copied from their original terminals without my personal supervision. I don't want the plans for this weapon to be stolen from the Empire like the Death Star Plans were."  
  
"No Lord Vader. it shall be as you say My Lord."  
  
"Good." hissed Vader.  
  
"Congratulations. Admiral Sarn" Vader reached out to Yeshow's corpse. The Admiral insignia on his chest tore itself free, and flew into Vader's right hand. Vader in turn handed the insignia to Sarn.  
  
"My Lord. I can have a new insignia made." he said, as he stared at the dead man's legacy.  
  
"Think of this as. a sign of your future if you make the same mistakes as your predecessor. are we clear?"  
  
"Yes Lord Vader."  
  
The End +++  
  
Post Script: For those who have never played RA2, or may have forgotten the plot, the Empire did have ships with the cloaking technology, but in the games narrative, they were defeated when a team of two rebels blew up the space station that made them. The sole surviving ship exploded shortly after the heroes returned to base.  
  
Vader did indeed kill Admiral Sarn. 


End file.
